From: Jean Sievers

Re: Brian Wilson 80th Birthday Playlist

Thanks Bob

I’ll show him your post

He had a happy and fun day today filled with

LOTS of love from his friends and peers (I’m sure you saw the video )

BIg cake from the Chicago guys at the show

He IS on the road where he wants to be … forget the naysayers who say he should stay home … huh?

He calls and asks when is the bus leaving and is Marc getting my oatmeal cookies?

He is feeling love on the road

He loves soaking it up .. the music and applause for his music

Watching the band

Watching Al sing and Blondie killing it on guitar and vocals like a teenager

He loves a steak for dinner and Popeyes on the bus

Watching the baseball or basketball game

Or football depending on the season

Is he running around like Mick? No

He doesn’t have to and after a horrible back surgery he can’t

BUT he loves being there .. it means the world to him

He thanks the Ladies and Gentleman and waves goodbye and hangs with his band and sings songs backstage off the cuff

Zero prompters or lyrics

He knows them all and sings whatever is floating his boat

Did you ever hear the Billy Idol story from the Greek before the pandemic?

Billy was coming to the show and his manager wondered about parking and saying hello

We told him to come do an encore

He came to soundcheck to work out some songs

It was HOT so BW was in his dressing room

People thought he wouldn’t know Billy.

Paul our MD said “Brian .. Billy Idol is here.” . without any pause he replied “Eyes Without a Face Billy Idol??!!” (which is what we call Billy now)

And demanded to see him right away

He made Billy sit next to him on the couch and wanted to talk about the production of that track and said

“I fucking LOVE that song” and he meant it !

Then he asked Billy if he was from England (classic Brian lol)

Billy was floored as were we and they had a great night at the Greek doing the encore and we had She & him as well.. they just did a beautiful tribute album with his songs .. you should check it out MELT AWAY A Tribute to Brian Wilson, it’s wonderful

Just when you think he’s not paying attention you are wrong !!! He remembers everything

He remembers what Paul McCartney was wearing the day they met right down to his shoes

I’m so happy for Brian

And happy for us all to have lived in his world with his music

Happy 80th boss

We love you

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From: Clint Young

Subject: Happy 80th Birthday, Brian!

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Re: The Brian Wilson Movie

February 22, 1990…

I was at my desk at Mercury Records in the Disney Chanel building above La Scala in Burbank. The phone rings and my assistant calls to me “it’s Brian Wilson’s office!”

So I picked up and the voice on the line says she’s Brian’s assistant and he’s a big Tears For Fears fan and he’d love to see them tonight at the Forum. I didn’t believe it but I said “if Brian would be kind enough to autograph my Pet Sounds album I’ll send over a pair of tickets.” She says “Great… send it over”.

I messengered over the album… it came back signed “Brian Wilson” and I messengered back a pair of tickets to that night’s show. I still didn’t believe it was for real so i sent tickets next to my own seats. And guess what? I get to the show that night and there’s Brian with Eugene Landy. I didn’t say a word to him but it was a thrill sitting next to him watching Tears for Fears. I remember him looking not at all awkward listening to a band he obviously loved. My autographed LP of Pet Sounds is on my office wall to this day.

Cliff O’Sullivan

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Re: The Brian Wilson Movie

Hello..

I’m a filmmaker in Los Angeles, and somewhat of a music afficionando of my generation. I’m also a big fan of yours (I think I met you at Scott Powell’s house in Venice a few years ago.)

I don’t know how you do it: putting out so many essays on so many subjects, so consistantly and thoughtfully.

I almost never differ with your views, but…doesn’t Van Dyke Parks deserve a place in your piece on Brian Wilson?

Respectfully,

TB

—

Tony Bill

Barnstorm Films

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From: Andrew Loog Oldham

Re: The Brian Wilson Movie

bob,

from the streamless, flood full colombia….

i spent an evening with brian, my ex immediate records partner, tony calder and two ” health bodyguards ” at a santa monica eatery circa ’94. brian was feisty and fit, not looking like martin sheen,

he left the restaurant on every hour with one of the bodyguards for a marlboro .

he had been answering questions on an average 5 seconds behind the count, but he was game.

when it came time to pay the bill he insisted on doing so, saying ” i’ve let too many people do this stuff for me . ”

tony and i , both lifelong fans of the man, his collaborators ( i.e. tony asher ) and their music , let him mercedes away towards PCH.

a dreamily similiar lookalike to doris day approached me and asked , ” was that not the beach boy , brian wilson ? ”

” yes, ma’am , it most certainly was, ” i replied and smiled on behalf of brian.

” well, ” said doris, ” how nice to see him out and about again .”

say what you will about dr. landy , he got brian out of bed and walking up fifth avenue.

then he bought the trip …. we cannot all be paul mcguinness …..

best, o

RIP andy wickham

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Re: The Brian Wilson Movie

Don’s right. He can’t do what Brian could. Which is no knock: the same could be said for literally everybody else in our popular music world. And of COURSE you’re not the only one who knows “Till I Die”, which Brian wrote the lyrics for. It’s achingly beautiful and as stunningly honest and forthright about mortality (or at the least personality disintegration) as any song I can call to mind. “I’m a leaf on a windy day, pretty soon I’ll be blown away, how long will the wind blow?” I mean, come on. And, of course, on the same album, “Surf’s Up”, which for musical composition far outstrips any competitors from our magical popular music history, 60s on.

Put simply, Brian stands alone

Berton Averre

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From: Jim Koplik

Re: The Brian Wilson Movie

I’m glad you gave Mike Love his props. His lyrics were timely. Brian was the genius which Mike concurs. But Mike’s lyrics made it classic. I was always friendly with Mike, Carl and Dennis. Never said a word to Brian. He was very distant. Now only Mike is alive. And I am very fond of him. He taught me TM and slept at my apartment on the floor in the 70’s. And we took Metro North to Yonkers, New York that night. I’m looking forward to seeing him on August 19 when he participates in my late wife’s Foundation that supports teaching music to low income kids. The Foundation is aligned with the Michael Bolton Foundation.

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From: Rusty Young

Re: The Brian Wilson Movie

Brian Wilson was doing a show a number of years ago at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, Nj. This is Bruce Springsteen’s “home” theatre, and he shows up unannounced several times a year to join a performer on stage. Midway through the concert Bruce slips out of the wings and steps in with the band mid song. The audience begins the usual Bruuuuce chant, and Brian clearly doesn’t understand what is going on in the middle of one of his songs.  After the song is done, one of the band members goes over and tells Brian what just happened…and he immediately turns into one of Sprinsteen’s biggest fans —asking us if we know who has just arrived out of nowhere and joined him on stage. He was beside himself, telling us how honored he was that a talent of Bruce’s stature would be willing to join him…They played together for a few songs and after Bruce left the stage, Brian was still shaking his head in disbelief…Just one of those rock moments.

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Re: Ziggy Stardust Turns Fifty Today

I promoted one of the early Ziggy gigs in the South of England. I’d seen one of the first at Imperial College in London and a homecoming performance at Wallington Town Hall in SE London.

London was ready for Bowie, the provinces were not! This was still a few months away from the Ziggy album release.

So Bowie’s entourage including the indefatigable Angie rolled into Southsea and played to a half full hall. But those that were there have carried it with.

It was in a good run of acts that included a very early support performance by Roxy Music, with Andy MacKay returning a couple of weeks later to see Sha Na Na.

Happy days – except for the bank manager!

Always good to read your newsletter & listen to the podcasts.

Philip Haines

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Re: Ziggy Stardust Turns Fifty Today

Great article regarding Bowie. I saw the Ziggy band live at Chicago’s Auditorium back in fall ’72. He was just breaking in America… mos def not a full house. Got very close to the front of the stage. What a mind-blowing show! I never saw or heard anything like it before. Became an instant fan. Went back and discovered pre-Ziggy music. Hunky Dory is pure genius! When I first heard the song Life On Mars I was completely blown away. Years later I would direct an indie feature film called Life On Mars… the lead in the story was John Ronson (my heroes Mick Ronson and John Lennon). I wanted to cast my musician friend Lee Michaels as a villain but he declined. Lee did however catered the film crew with tons of Killer Shrimp (his restaurant). I still can’t believe Ziggy is 50 years old!!! WTF!!!

Arthur Springer

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From: Michael Alex

Re: Ziggy Stardust Turns Fifty Today

I was thirteen years old, and all I knew about David Bowie was Space Oddity (which I loved) and adults saying he was a drug-taking homosexual, though I had a fifteen year old pen pal who wrote that Bowie was fantastic.  Then one Friday night the Hammersmith show was listed in TV Guide at 1AM, and I begged my parents to let me stay up and watch it.   I begged and begged, and they decided that I would be allowed to watch it, but my father would watch as well to protect me from his presumably terrible influence.    Fine with me.  (At this time my standard for outrageousness was Mick Jagger in Gimme Shelter, which had been on PBS.)

 

The show begins with Hang On to Yourself and my jaw drops.   Bowie is clearly from outer space.  So is Mick Ronson.   Nothing looked or sounded like this before in my life.   I sat in front of the TV for the hour or whatever eyes wide, head bobbing, while my father kept muttering nervously “clearly this is a very talented young man.”    I was blown away.   The world was a whole lot bigger and wilder and more exotic, and I wanted in.

 

Years later I interviewed Bowie for MTV, a career highlight.  At one point when talking about early influences he said someone he really missed was Marc Bolan.   Meanwhile I still feel there’s a hole in the world where Bowie was.

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Re: Ziggy Stardust Turns Fifty Today

Ron Davies was one of my best friends and mentor. I had known him for years as a regular at Brown’s Diner in Nashville. I also have played guitar with his sister, Gail Davies for decades now. Ron, Gail, Ron Price and myself toured around the UK.  He became quite popular and not long after, Ron and myself were booking a UK-Europe tour as a duo. Unfortunately, he passed away a couple of months before we were to start the tour. Ron had been roommates with Tim Hardin and also Joe Cocker. Ron knew many, if not all, of Harding’s songs and would play them for me at his house or after the gigs. Long John Baldry also cut ‘ It Ain’t Easy’ with Rod Stewart and Elton John producing. Helen Reddy cut his ‘Long Hard Climb’ Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Nanci Griffith, Kieran Kane and Kevin Welch and others covered ‘ Waiting On A Dark Eyed Gal’. Ron and Gail had sibling harmony like the Everly Brothers and were working on a project and then he was gone. Ron made a living as a songwriter from the age of 17 and has an extensive song catalog. He is loved and missed by all the knew him.

All The Best,

Sergio Webb

Las Vegas, New Mexico

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RE: Ziggy

My crew got into David Bowie’s music through Hunky Dory. One lone copy sold at my local record store. I picked it up. By the time Ziggy came out, we were what you’d call fanatics. So when it was announced that Bill Graham was bringing the show to Winterland, San Francisco, we bought up immediately. It was late October, 1972, sort of a Halloween show. Graham bit for two nights. I remember seeing James Taylor in Berkeley that week. On every chair at the Berkeley Community Theater was a Bowie flyer. Uh-oh. Also on the bill was Sylvester and His Hot Band and the Florescent Leach and Eddie.

Anyway, we made it to Winterland early afternoon to get in line, except by the time the doors opened, there were less than a hundred people behind us. Uh-oh.  I would estimate less than 300 people showed up on our night. (Winterland held 5400. Multiply that times two.) The same the following night. I remember Jerry Pompelli, Graham’s MC, mentioning that “Most of you came dressed up as empty seats.” Bill took a Bowie bath.

The Winterland stage was situated on the side, as it was for Pink Floyd first playing Dark Side. As a result, bands had to walk through the audience floor to get to the stage. I still remember the band traipsing across the floor in their silver space suits. They played undaunted to the thin crowd. We were seated above and behind the band. No setlist exists. I remember they opened with “Hang Onto Yourself.”

After the set, Bowie never returned to San Francisco until the Station to Station tour. So, yeah, to say that tour wasn’t sold out (it may have been in Santa Monica nights before) is an understatement. The only folks who attended were the freaks and the super fans.

Precisely ten years later, I was working with a local band and they were opening for T-Bone Burnett for a few local gigs. Mick Ronson was in his band. When I reminded Ronson that exactly ten years ago to the day…he grimaced and shrugged. What a great guitar player and arranger he was…

Kent Zimmerma

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Subject: Mr Grand Funk Railroad

I loved that was how you introduced Mark Farner to your podcast. What an amazing man and what a story of his trip to the the other side and back. Of all the highlights of his career that stood out for me as the one he would most likely  not trade for any accolade.

I will share a quick GFR story that happened during the Strawberry Fields Festival in early August 1970 at Toronto’s Morport Gran Prix Raceway.

Aside from over thirty other acts GFR headlined Friday night, Zeppelin were scheduled for Saturday’s closer and Sly for Sunday. GFR destroyed the place and people would not let them get off the stage. It was amazing. By the time they finished it had become apparent that Led Zeppelin were not going to appear. No communication with transportation, no check in at local motel rooms on standby for them and of course no one was at Premier talent on a Friday night and no one had Frank Barcelona’s home number. 

We took a quick survey of the team and it was unanimous. Let’s ask GFR to stay over and play again Saturday night. The band loved it, we paid them the same again (a fraction of the deposit we never got back from Peter Grant) and made the announcement to the crowd, who because there was camping mostly adjacent to your car, were all still within earshot of the huge PA which had been trucked in from LA. There was a roar from the visible crowd and a thunderous echo from the adjacent woods and it was on. 

Talk about rescuing a Saturday night. GFR did it up right.

John Brower

Toronto

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From: Susan Levy Rash

Subject: Re: Bosch: Legacy

Bravo Bob !!!

Another great piece. I love your musings. 

I was the publicist at MCA during  ‘Full Moon Fever’.  Shortly before it was scheduled for release Tom ran into George Harrison at a restaurant in Studio City, having lunch with a bunch of the department heads at Warner Bros.  Tom was still mad at his label for the whole $9.98 mess and he couldn’t imagine lunching with the enemy.  But whatever George said to him about it softened his stance and next thing you know Richard Palmese’s secretary is calling me, telling me that Tom Petty is coming into the building tomorrow to do all of his interviews to support the new album.

You would not believe the buzz in the building. It was palpable. No one could believe Tom was coming into the building.

With the help of Mitch Schneider, Tom did two full days— in one of the empty offices —interviewing with journalists to promote Full Moon Fever (which btw included a fantastic Spin cover story written by Michael Corcoran).

On the last day Tom asked me if he could see Al Teller, the then President of the label.  He took the long walk passed the bank of secretaries desks to Mr. Teller’s office.

I was told later that he wanted to see Al Teller to request that the label stop using styrofoam cups in their break rooms.  At that time MCA’s headquarters were in Universal City on the Universal Lot.  I was also told that because of Tom’s request, all of Universal Studios discontinued the use of styrofoam cups. 

Like many others I was also surprised to learn that “Bosch Legacy” had been release and and that it was on FreeVee but I loved it just as much as the original series.

And yes the commercials bugged us (thank god they are brief) but I will say that it did help me discover Freevee (which I guess is the point) as well as the new incarnation of Judge Judy, so it wasn’t all bad.

____________________________________________

From: Shane Compton

Subject: RE: Gas

Hey Bob

Here in Ardernistan (New Zealand) we’re paying over $3 per litre, which

equates to about $12 per US gallon!!  I’m talking in $ to $ terms, rather

than involving any exchange rates.

So, while I accept people are hurting in the USA, it’s a lot worse here

mate!  Love your work Bob, take care,

Shane

____________________________________________

From: hasse breitholtz

Subject: Re: Gas

welcome to sweden:

1 liter gas today is 24 sek = 2,40 usd , which equals  9,60 usd !

____________________________________________

Subject: Re: Gas

Hi Bob,

Last I filled up at Costco (the gas quality is good) it was $5.60/gal. That was last part of May. I did see a few places in Beverly Hills and Hollywood that were showing $7+, but why go there? Arco is usually about the same as Costco, haven’t had any issues with their gas. Like you I need premium (Mercedes AMG) and don’t want to risk using sub-par gas. 

I’m in Europe now, in Norway, an oil producing nation. Took the bus in from the airport (public transit works pretty well across most of Europe – try taking a bus in LA!) and saw Nkr 26/liter, which ends up being about $10/gal. 

The truth is inflation is global, mainly due to the pandemic and supply chain havoc caused from it, more recently (and specific to fuel) oil and gas due to Russia’s attack on Ukraine. 

I totally agree with your assessment and worry that Americans will trade long term freedom for short term security. What happens when people in a democracy vote to elect a party who’s platform is to eliminate democracy? Are people really aware of the choice they are being asked to make? 

We certainly live in “interesting” times. 

Be well. 

Best regards,

Thor

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From: Mark Levy

Subject: Re: Gas

I hear ya, sometimes it doesn’t feel like Democracy’s hooks are deep enough to hold people through the kind of pressures it looks like we’re headed into. The authoritarian tide is menacing.

I believe this Summer will bring the touring music industry to the brink of viability. Inflation + fuel costs (fans and bands) + Covid + gun violence. None of it bodes well. As for fuel prices, like you said, the rich don’t care how much they pay for gas.  My band toured March 15-April 10 cross-country in a bus and we spent 50% more on fuel than we budgeted for (before Russia invaded Ukraine). We barely turned a profit. Now we’re looking down the pipe toward bus tours in August and September. I’ve seen forecasts for $10 diesel + shortages by then. First Covid grounded us, now this insanity.

Like so much in life these days, I feel I can only savor the moment and hope for the best. After all, the only thing we really control is our own well-reasoned thoughts, right?  I’m grateful to still be pursuing a life in music. The idea of a world where such a life is no longer possible is too dark for me to reason with. So for now, I won’t.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, and for reading mine.

Mark Levy

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From: Gregory Prestopino

Re:  “Break My Stride” and

Bob,

Firstly, love Joe Walsh’s note about writing the song down a half step; total truth.

When Matthew (Wilder) and I wrote “Break My Stride”, I think we both suspected (and hoped) it was a hit.  Matthew was on Arista at the time.  When Clive was sent the song, he just didn’t hear it.  This is a much longer story but suffice it to say that Matthew got out of that deal and the album was released by Private Eye, Joe Isgro’s label.

When “Stride” came out, it was called a “turntable hit”, meaning it got airplay but no one bought it.  Well, not nobody, but only about 800,000 copies, so not gold.

Well, somehow, a bunch of years later the song has ended up re-interpolated in several top ten records (Puffy’s “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down”, Christina Aguiler’s “Can’t Hold Us Down”, Matisyahu’s “Jerusalem”) and on and on.  Not to mention TikTok and various commercials.

Why?  I have no idea.  I mean I always knew the song was great…for a “novelty” song, as many dismissed it.

What J.D. said is right on the money:  “…write a great song and sing it well. It might not make you rich but then again, it just might…”  Bootstraps work is important.  But never underestimate the role of luck in all of this.

The older I get, the more I think “If You’re Lucky” should be written across the universe and maybe tattooed on everyone’s forehead the moment they’re born.

gPresto

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From: chris stein

Subject: Re: Elliott Murphy-This Week’s Podcast

Elliott’s brother Matt Murphy was perhaps the best tour manager Blondie ever had. Not to diminish others but he was fantastic

Tune in today, June 21st, to Volume 106, 7 PM East, 4 PM West.

Phone #: 844-6-VOLUME, 844-686-5863

Twitter: @lefsetz or @siriusxmvolume/#lefsetzlive

Hear the episode live on SiriusXM VOLUME: siriusxm.us/HearLefsetzLive

If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app: siriusxm.us/LefsetzLive

Spotify playlist: https://spoti.fi/3y7szTv

SURF CITY

TWO GIRLS FOR EVERY BOY!

Can you even say that anymore? Is it considered sexist? They weren’t really selling the ratio so much as the California dream.

But it’s a Jan & Dean song!

No, it started out as a Brian Wilson song that Jan Berry finished and Jan & Dean made into a #1 record, the first of the surf era!

“You know we’re goin’ to Surf City, ’cause it’s two to one

You know we’re goin’ to Surf City, gonna have some fun now”

If you listen to this and don’t immediately smile, dream of a happy future, you hate the sun and you should STAY AWAY FROM CALIFORNIA!

GIRL DON’T TELL ME

Carl may have sung it, but Brian wrote it, and the wistful feeling is all Brian, all “In My Room.”

This is now my favorite Beach Boys song.

“Hi little girl, it’s me, don’t you know who I am?

I met you last summer when I came up to stay with my grand

I’m the guy-uy-uy who left you with tears in his eyes

You didn’t answer my letters so I figured it was just lie”

Summer means new love. And when you’d part you promised to write. They always did, but it always stopped, sometime before Christmas, but they’re still emblazoned on your brain, at least they are in mine!

CALIFORNIA GIRLS

It’s that intro. I’d be riding my Raleigh with the transistor dangling from the handlebars, just waiting for that anticipatory instrumental intro, I can vividly remember riding the corner up by Fairfield Woods and having it come on. The single was not yet out, I needed to hear it. And the day the album came out I rode down to Topps discount store and purchased it, it’s still my favorite Beach Boys album.

For a long time “California Girls” was my favorite, but I can own “Girl Don’t Tell Me,” no one else does.

AMUSEMENT PARKS U.S.A.

“The parachutes at Riverview Park will shake us up all day

And Disneyland and P.O.P. is worth a trip to L.A.”

P.O.P. was already gone by time I moved to L.A., but those who were here then continue to testify…an amusement park on a pier.

HELP ME, RHONDA

The hit version on “Summer Days (And Summer Nights),” not the original studio take on “The Beach Boys Today” sans the “h” in “Rhonda.” Al sang it.

SURFIN’ U.S.A.

The first Beach Boys album I bought, a year after it came out, when it was already deep catalog. I needed the hit of the title song.

FARMER’S DAUGHTER

That’s Brian on lead vocal, with his falsetto, back when his voice was still pure. This is simple and dated but more magical than anything on the hit parade today.

LONELY SEA

Ditto.

Have you ever looked out at the ocean late in the afternoon, when you’re tired from the sun, this song encapsulates that feeling exactly.

SHUT DOWN

Tack it up, tack it up?

I had no idea what a tachometer was, but this was the first car song I loved.

SURFIN’ SAFARI

Sure, “Surfin'” was the original hit single on Candix, but not on the east coast, the real breakthrough was this. Jan & Dean and the Beach Boys were pioneering the west coast surf/car ethos, our eyes were opening, if you weren’t living in California you wanted to move there.

409

Yes, there’s a car song on the very first album, infectious. I love when Mike Love sings about Positraction. I may not have known what a tachometer was, but by the end of the decade we were all car crazy, we knew the models, the engine sizes, it was a mania. To think today kids turn sixteen and don’t even get their license, unfathomable!

DO YOU WANNA DANCE?

Sure, it’s a cover, but it’s put over the line by Dennis’s lead vocal. But Brian’s on the record too, with background vocals and grand piano.

This is a big song in my life. I went to camp the second month, August, many campers had been there since the beginning of July. I brought my records. I dropped the needle on this as the first song at the social and I asked Jill to dance and promptly she was with me instead of Jimmy. But by Christmas she was back with him.

WHEN I GROW UP (TO BE A MAN)

I’m still waiting to grow up, I’ve gotten older, but I’m not sure I’ve grown up. I did get married, but I never had children. The counting of the age numbers was missed on the dashboard speaker in the car, but it’s indelible when you’re listening at home. As for Brian Wilson growing up to be 80? Back then we thought no one lived that long!

DANCE, DANCE, DANCE

“After six hours of school I’ve had enough for the day

I hit the radio dial and turn it up all the way”

It always seemed weird to me that they were singing about high school when they’d quite obviously graduated.

That’s Brian with the high harmony.

FUN, FUN, FUN

“Shut Down, Vol. 2” was the third Beach Boys album I bought, once again after the songs on it were hits.

Still, the funny thing was my sister was always going to the library to do her high school papers and my father had a T-Bird and…

POM POM PLAY GIRL

Back in the day of all-in-one record players with heavy tonearms that you put coins on so the record wouldn’t skip I was convinced it was “run, kick and pass” without the “p” in front.

VEGETABLES

Word was that Brian owned a health food store, but nobody I knew was a vegetarian back then. Some tracks on “Smiley Smile” sound unfinished, “Vegetables” does not. And this is one song that Van Dyke Parks wrote the lyrics for that was not inscrutable.

WITH ME TONIGHT

It’s all Brian’s song, but Carl sings lead, and it’s when he sings “with me tonight” that the magic is embedded into the song. Minor, but not forgettable.

WONDERFUL

The secret song on “Smiley Smile,” which didn’t sell so well, but the song was so good that it ultimately broke through to fans, live it stood out. “Wonderful” is so good you only need one listen to get it.

GOOD VIBRATIONS

What is never said is that the Beach Boys were considered to be over, this was an unforeseen breakthrough, a huge hit single. As fresh today as it was back in ’66, you hear it and you’re immediately drawn into it, you become one with the track, this is what music is all about.

WILD HONEY

The theremin and Carl’s vocal create magic. Oh yeah, that change before the chorus…the pre-chorus is MAGIC!

DARLIN’

A surprise success, my sister bought the single, but I bought the album as soon as it was available, at Alexander’s I remember.

DO IT AGAIN

Yes, it was only 1968 but the Beach Boys were already nostalgic, trying to recapture the magic, and they did, this was a chart hit! Once again, it’s the change, the middle part, that Brian was able to create that youngsters seem unable to replicate, that pushed the track over the line.

CABINESSENCE

A “Smile” leftover which sounded like it belonged on “Smiley Smile.” The middle part with the choral vocals, as if you’re twisting and turning in a funhouse, that’s what makes it great.

LITTLE DEUCE COUPE

The first Beach Boys track I remember being a hit. There’s great swagger, but at the time I wasn’t sure what a deuce coupe was. As for the pink slip…I couldn’t even make out the words, what exactly were they singing about? Can you imagine racing for pinks today??

CATCH A WAVE

Ellen gave me the “Surfer Girl” and “Little Deuce Coupe” albums for my 17th birthday, wrapped in yarn, I remember, they were her older sister’s.

The track I immediately dropped the needle on on “Surfer Girl” was this, the original of Jan & Dean’s remake with different lyrics, “Sidewalk Surfin’.” Can you imagine another act using a harp? Even today? As for sitting on top of the world, I get the same feeling skiing, some sensations are purely physical, unfortunately couch potatoes never experience them.

HAWAII

We could barely fathom California, Hawaii? No one I knew had ever been, it might as well have been Asia. It had only become a state a few years before.

IN MY ROOM

One of the most legendary Beach Boys songs but it was never a hit single. Making a point about what lasts. I got it back then and still get it today. Removed from the hustle and bustle, in my own mind. Gorgeous.

SURFER GIRL

This was a hit single, but I don’t remember ever hearing it on the radio, maybe I was just too young, I listened to the radio but was not addicted until the Beatles broke in ’64, and this was the summer of ’63. “Surfer Girl” and “In My Room” are the essence of Brian Wilson.

BE TRUE TO YOUR SCHOOL

Loved the track, but couldn’t believe the sentiment. This evidenced the band’s ages. By time I was in high school in the mid-sixties school spirit was anathema, you didn’t believe in your school, you rebelled against it!

ALL SUMMER LONG

The closing song of “American Graffiti.” An upbeat shock to cap the maudlin feeling at the end of the movie. Can’t believe they say “miniature golf,” that was a big thing growing up, I used to beg my parents to take me, this was when every course was different, and there were exotic hazards. Like the pinball machine hole in Westport.

LITTLE HONDA

The hit was by the Hondells.

One day across the street friends of the Navarette girls, already teenagers, showed up on two Honda 60’s. One red, one blue. They took me for a ride, I remember having to get off and push the bike up a hill.

I GET AROUND

But I did know this, from hearing it incessantly at the Nutmeg Bowl, where while waiting for our parents to pick us up we hung out by the jukebox, after polishing my ball. The British Invasion now owned the radio, this showed Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys were still a factor whereas so many other hit acts were wiped out by those from the U.K.

DON’T BACK DOWN

My college roommate Lyndon used to listen to this before getting in his Saab to go to the Maine coast to go surfing.

WENDY

My younger sister’s name, a hit in our house.

GIRLS ON THE BEACH

The title song of the 1965 movie, within which the Beach Boys appeared, singing this song.

We were on Steel Pier in Atlantic City, waiting for Peter & Gordon to perform. There were two movie theatres. Once you paid to get in, all this was included. We came in the middle of the film, it irked me to leave, but I did see the Beach Boys performing in the movie. And yes, later in the evening we did see the diving horse.

SLOOP JOHN B

This was the hit from “Pet Sounds.” A great radio track, I ultimately found out  it was a cover, the song was new to me..

WOULDN’T IT BE NICE

I didn’t really get it until it played over the credits in “Shampoo.” Now that was a movie. I was living in L.A., but I aspired to live in that world. Everybody was in love with Julie Christie. Everybody knew who Warren Beatty was, his pictures always demanded attendance, but he’s faded along with the movies themselves, which are on big screens, but smaller.

GOD ONLY KNOWS

I remember being at Boy Scout camp. The leader of the provisional troop loved this song. This was where I was sexually abused.

ADD SOME MUSIC TO YOUR DAY

“Sunflower” is the best Beach Boys album of the seventies and beyond, it had no hits, all the hype was on its follow-up, “Surf’s Up,” but “Sunflower” is better. “Add Some Music to Your Day” is pure magic, just completely out of time with what was being played on the radio, FM or AM.

“Music

When you’re alone

Is like a companion

For your lonely soul”

Ain’t that the truth.

THIS WHOLE WORLD

The first three songs on “Sunflower” are quite a run. The opener is “Slip On Through,” “Sunflower” is where Dennis Wilson comes alive, shows his talent. Then comes “This Whole World” and then “Add Some Music to Your Day.”

It’s the change at 1:05, what comes after… Once again, nothing like what was on the radio, but that does not mean it wasn’t, and still isn’t, great.

‘TIL I DIE

The best song on “Surf’s Up,” even better than the title track. I don’t know another track with this exact feel. I got it the first time through and have loved it ever since.

“I’m a leaf on a windy day

Pretty soon I’ll be blown away”

We’re all at the whim of the world, we’re insignificant, we’re just leaves on the tree of life.

Until we die.

MARCELLA

A hit single…in the sixties, but this was the seventies, the spring of ’72. The album it was contained on, “Carl & the Passions – So Tough,” was a disappointment, but the selling point was the pairing of “Pet Sounds” in the package, making it a double album. This was when the “Pet Sounds” renaissance really started to begin.

The waterfall vocals are stupendous. CRANK IT!

SAIL ON SAILOR

Not a hit, but everybody knows it. Blondie Chaplin sang it. I’ve got the Flame album, do you?

FUNKY PRETTY

“Funky Pretty” and “The Trader” are the two other standout tracks on “Holland.” When Carl kicks back and sings… “Funky, I STILL REMEMBER FUNKY PRETTY!” Only the Beach Boys could deliver this.

IT’S O.K.

Showed that Brian still had it, buried in an album of covers, it was another song out of time. But still not as good as “Marcella”…

GOOD TIME

American Spring released it first.

GOOD TIMIN’

That ol’ Brian Wilson magic, along with Carl’s lead vocal, but it’s really about the voices in the chorus. A complete return to form, unfortunately it was overshadowed by the second side’s disco workout, an almost eleven minute remake of “Here Comes the Night,” completely superfluous, unnecessary, and released too long after the fact, disco was just about to die.

LOVE AND MERCY

The opening cut of Brian’s first solo album, nothing could live up to the hype and the album did not, nor did the single, his voice was already showing its age, but Brian has embraced “Love and Mercy” as his theme song, and everybody who is a fan of Brian knows it.

LAY DOWN BURDEN

Somehow Joe Thomas is able to make Brian sound like he did in the early days, he recaptures the magic. This is the other solo song that Brian has fully embraced.

PACIFIC COAST HIGHWAY

From the fiftieth anniversary comeback album, “That’s Why God Made the Radio.” The band went on the road to hosannas, and then they went their separate ways and now it’s sixty years.

The early career was driving down the coast, all these years later the Beach Boys are driving up, disappearing as the sun sets. “Pacific Coast Highway” is astounding, it stands alone, however brief it is. If you’ve been to the left coast and stood looking at the sun disappear over the ocean, you know, this track gets it.

SUMMER’S GONE

“Summer’s gone

I’m gonna sit and watch the waves

We laugh, we cry

We live then die

And dream about our yesterday”

Brian Wilson is in the sunset of his life, but so are we, those who lived through those years of optimism and hope. Listening to these songs brings it all back. They’re forever, even if we are not.

Conventional wisdom is they’re irrelevant, that they have no impact, cannot reach core Republicans, but that is plain wrong.

This is a lesson in media most performers have not learned, even studios have not learned, even TV streaming outlets have not learned.

It’s not about dripping out episodes once a week so people don’t cancel, that’s torture, it’s about having so much new product that people constantly come back to your site to see what’s happening. That’s Netflix’s secret advantage, the sheer amount of product. I’m not canceling my Netflix account, I know I can always find something to watch on the service. AppleTV+? I just canceled it.

Disney+ has one or two hit shows that don’t appeal to me. I outgrew “Star Wars” long ago, I’m looking for something more gritty, something more real, which means I only subscribed to Disney+ when I got it for free with my Verizon Wireless account. I wanted to see “Hamilton.” I have no kids, I need no babysitter. That’s Disney’s ace in the hole, kids’ programming. But most of us are not kids.

As for HBO Max… They’re doing a bad job of telling people that there’s more product on the site than that which was aired on HBO. All kinds of Time Warner product. But they still have a dearth of worthwhile new product. The outlet is still skewed to the older TV viewer, who still has a cable subscription, those who are inured to the week by week release that younger generations cannot cotton too.

As for performers…

There’s a tsunami of product, more than anybody can pay attention to. Drake released a new album on Friday. You’d be stunned how many people don’t care, are not even aware. And this isn’t a diss of his music, but a statement that he reaches only a fraction of the audience.

That’s the new paradigm. You’re in business for yourself. Everybody is cottage industry. That’s what the social media influencers realize, they can only rely on themselves, and their only way of getting ahead is to drop product every single day, to get people coming back, so they’re not one and done.

Maybe you’re big enough, from the pre-internet days, to put out no new music and still sell out halls. Good for you. But this does not work with the younger generations. Out of sight, out of mind. I’m not saying you need to make social media a job, I’m just saying you’ve got to post enough content to keep people coming back on a regular basis, afraid of missing out, looking forward to being titillated. It can be a cover song. It can be a video sans music. Fans are hungry for connection, and if you don’t provide it someone else will.

And know that you’re only appealing to fans. Nobody else cares. Your only hope is your fans are so attached to you that they keep bugging their friends about you. Publicity?

Maybe you followed the Johnny Depp/Amber Heard story. Read this article:

“The Mainstream Media Lost the Depp-Heard Trial – And the lifestyle influencers turned court correspondents won.”: https://nym.ag/3OmEx0Q

The pro Johnny Depp narrative was built by online influencers who were doing it for clicks, irrelevant of their inner beliefs. And mainly, it’s only the college educated who are reading the “New York Times,” “Washington Post” and “Wall Street Journal.” You’re getting your story in one of those rags and believing you’re on the road to success. WRONG! Unless you can move the online needle you’re nowhere. How do you trigger your fans?

The most important words in the above article are these:

“The more you publish the more successful you are. Nearly every influential success, from Trump to the “New York Times” to DeuxMoi, is based on frequency and constancy.”

This is why the 1/6 hearings have such effect and you don’t.

Let’s see, the oldsters lost the Napster war and then the streaming war and keep dreaming that we can all go back to 1972, when labels paid big bucks in a controlled environment with limited product. But those days are through! Sure, coast on fumes if you want to, if you’ve got enough career momentum, great. But if you want to grow your audience, you’ve got to produce, regularly.

Yes, an influencer can reach more people than the “New York Times.” A teenage TikTokker can reach many more people than supposed “hit” artists. I’m not equating the nutrition of the influencer with the artist, but the influencer doesn’t post once and then come back three years later… The influencer keeps posting, regularly. Hoping to bond those who have watched their videos to them.

And the truth is the major labels have lost control of the game. They were asleep at the wheel. They don’t realize they’ve been marginalized. They represent an ever-shrinking share of new music. You see the youngsters creating online have established a whole new paradigm that the majors don’t understand. It’s not about repeatability of the song so much as repeatability of the experience, of going to someone’s site on a regular basis to see what they’re delivering today!

Uvalde? Once it was announced the right and left had agreed to a bill, it fell off the front page. Despite the fact that the bill, if ultimately passed, will have minimal effect. It’s a step in the right direction, but the underlying problems? Those are going unaddressed. The story has been buried.

But 1/6? They’re having hearing after hearing, week after week.

You know why Fox doesn’t want to talk about them? Because they’re afraid their audience will become aware of them! I mean these people have been gaslighted so bad, but once confronted with the truth, again and again, it will become much more difficult to maintain their position.

Everybody’s talking about 1/6. To the point that the hard core Trump fans/election deniers are hearing about it.

Liz Cheney had it right. These Trump supporting doofuses in Congress don’t realize that the sands of time, history, won’t be kind to them. This is the story again and again, whether it be Joe McCarthy, Lee Atwater, even Newt Gingrich. When the tide turns, you don’t want to be caught out to sea.

Which means there may come a point where the elected officials cave, wake up and say they had no idea, now they know that Trump is a criminal, that they were being fed false information.

But it’s the people who are moving the needle. The same people the writers at the major publications are out of touch with. Wanna know what’s going on? Don’t go to lunch with a fat cat, spend that time online.

The 1/6 story won’t die.

And you’ve got to give the committee credit, they’re constantly revealing new nuggets. Just when you think you’ve heard it all, BAM, they release something new. Come on, admit it, you thought you knew everything about 1/6, that the committee was just about apportioning blame, you really didn’t think they were going to come up with something new, BUT THEY HAVE!

So you follow the story. It’s everywhere. You’ve got to be everywhere if you want to grow your audience today. I’ll admit it’s gray, you can’t write it down definitively, you’ve just got to walk into the wilderness and experiment, and hope to get lucky along the way.

There are very few through-threads in society today. Stories that continue for years that we can all pay attention to, that we can have a viewpoint on, that we can argue about. That’s what we’re looking for, we’re looking to ENGAGE!

And we’ve lost all faith in the elected officials and those making seven figure salaries appearing on TV. They’ve got no clothes. They’re out of touch. They were made for an old world, with limited outlets. Give Tucker Carlson and Rachel Maddow credit, they’ve established identities, you know what they were selling, they’ve got rough edges, and that’s what hooks people to them. That’s why musicians have lost, their music doesn’t evidence the outside creative spark that will bond people to them. We’ve all got our Velcro loops looking to be snared, you’ve got to provide the hooks!

Commentary is nearly worthless, other than to keep the story alive. It’s only the facts, they stand on their own. And it’s a small subset of the population which watches cable news and even reads the newspaper. The committee has made the facts so clear that they’re easily understood, everybody feels like an expert, therefore everybody has got an opinion and wants to talk about it.

Give Trump credit, he understands this. Which is why he constantly tweeted, he provided train-wreck value, people couldn’t take their eyes off him, even if they disagreed. And he got everybody talking. And he’s still employing the same playbook, being in the news, fighting back, otherwise…

You lose.

Do you want to win or lose?

If you want to win you’ve got to play online. That’s your base. And it’s comprised of many elements, not only all the streaming services, but YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, even Facebook. Figure out where your people are and go there. And know you’re investing in yourself. The old days of casino careers is over, trying to get noticed so someone will buy and now stream your song. That’s just one of the building blocks. It’s got to be about you, you’re more than your songs, people want to believe in you, especially if you’ve got credibility in this sold-out world. 

Go your own way, but make sure you’ve got followers.